The Amazonification of Healthcare

The digital age is no longer about just the product – it’s equally about the customer experience.

In turn, businesses are competing on their ability to deliver quantifiable results to empowered consumers, who are:

• Informed
• Proactive
• Demanding
• Discerning
• Cost-conscious

Naturally, empowered consumers have high expectations of the services and brands they choose to integrate into their lives – and Amazon’s buying experience, which is ultra-fast, convenient, innovative, and driven by user reviews, is the perfect example of this trend in action.

This “Amazonification effect” is transforming every industry from retail to finance – and the healthcare industry is now set to change forever for both consumers and businesses.

The full article and infographic can be viewed at this link   

NIH-funded genome centers to accelerate precision medicine discoveries

The All of Us Research Program awarded funds totaling $28.6 million to establish three genome centers around the country. These centers will begin to generate genomic data from biosamples contributed by the program’s participants. Ultimately, this information will become a critical component in the program’s precision medicine research platform, a national resource to support studies on a variety of important health questions. The All of Us Research Program is part of the National Institutes of Health.

The full press release can be viewed at this link.  

NIH to build a detailed map of cells within the human body

The National Institutes of Health’s Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) issued its first set of research funding awards to develop an open, global framework that will support research community efforts to map the adult human body at the level of individual cells. HuBMAP is a program of the NIH Common Fund. Common Fund programs address emerging scientific opportunities and high-priority challenges for the NIH. The HuBMAP awards total $54 million over the next four years, pending available funds.

The full press release can be viewed at this link.  

Presentation slides from 9.6.18 eHI Executive Advisory Board on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning by Nalini Vaddineni, Director of Data Architecture and Analytics, at CHRISTUS Health. 

Global status report on alcohol and health 2018

The World Health Organization has released a comprehensive report on alcohol, examining topics such as reducing the harmful use of alcohol, global strategies action plans and monitoring frameworks, alcohol consumption, health consequences, alcohol policy and interventions, and country profiles.

The full report can be downloaded below.  

Determinants of patient participation for safer care: A qualitative study of physicians' experiences and perceptions

There is a paucity of research on physicians' perspectives on involving patients to achieve safer care. This study aims to explore determinants of patient participation
for safer care, according to physicians in Swedish health care. We used a deductive descriptive design, applying qualitative content analysis based on the Capability‐Opportunity‐Motivation‐Behaviour framework. Semi‐ structured interviews were conducted with 13 physicians in different types of health care units, to achieve a heterogeneous sample. The main outcome measure was barriers and facilitators to patient participation of potential relevance for patient safety. Analysis of the data yielded 14 determinants (ie, subcategories) functioning as barriers and/or facilitators to patient participation of potential relevance for patient safety. These determinants were mapped to five categories: physicians' capability to involve patients in their care; patients' capability to become involved in their care, as perceived by the physicians; physicians' opportunity to achieve patient participation in their care; physicians' motivation to involve patients in their care; and patients' motivation to become involved in their care, as perceived by the physicians. There are many barriers to patient participation to achieve safer care. There are also facilitators, but these tend to depend on initiatives of individual physicians and patients, because organizational‐level support may be lacking. Many of the determinants are interdependent, with physicians' perceived time constraints influencing other barriers.

The full article can be viewed below.  

Chronic Pain Among Suicide Decedents, 2003 to 2014: Findings From the National Violent Death Reporting System

More than 25 million adults in the United States have chronic pain. Chronic pain has been associated with suicidality, but previous studies primarily examined nonfatal suicidal behaviors rather than suicide deaths associated with chronic pain or the characteristics of such deaths.  The design utilized retrospective analysis of National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) data. The NVDRS links death certificate, coroner or medical examiner, and law enforcement data collected by investigators, who often interview informants who knew the decedent to gather information on precipitating circumstances surrounding the suicide.  Information is abstracted by using standard coding guidance developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Chronic pain may be an important contributor to suicide. Access to quality, comprehensive pain care and adherence to clinical guidelines may help improve pain management and patient safety.

The full article can be viewed below.  

Strategies to promote public engagement around deprescribing

Many seniors remain unaware that certain medications may be harmful, despite high rates of polypharmacy and inappropriate medication use among community-dwelling older adults. Patient education is an effective method for reducing the use of inappropriate medications. Increasing public awareness and engagement is essential for promoting shared decision-making to deprescribe. The Canadian Deprescribing Network was created to address the lack of a systematic pan-Canadian initiative to implement deprescribing among older Canadians. The Canadian Deprescribing Network deliberately included patient advocates in its organization from the outset, in order to ensure a key strategic focus on public awareness and education. In this paper, we present the processes and activities rolled out by the Canadian Deprescribing Network as a blueprint model for engaging the public on deprescribing. Embedded within the structure of the network, the subcommittee on public awareness and engagement implements an action plan that includes needs assessments, population surveys, focus groups, deprescribing fairs, national stakeholders’ meetings, public lectures and monthly exchanges with community champions and seniors’ organizations. Educational materials and online media have been developed based on the answers to the questions: what information do seniors need about deprescribing? who should this information be delivered to? who needs to deliver the message? and how should seniors be engaged in deprescribing? In conjunction with seniors’ organizations, members of the Network have iteratively refined key deprescribing messages, disseminated information about deprescribing, engaged the press and created a grass roots-driven public awareness and education campaign across Canada. Over 3000 seniors and seniors’ organizations are involved, with over 25,000 educational tools being distributed across the country.

The full article can be viewed below.  

Presentation slides from 9.6.18 eHI Executive Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning by Lawrence D. Nadel, PhD, PMP, NIST Information Technology Laboratory. Reviews the challenges to be addressed for applying AI/ML in healthcare and the "Diagnostic Cockpit of the Future."

Presentation slides from Sean Khozin, Associate Director, Oncology Center of Excellence, Director of INFORMED. From 9.6.18 eHI Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Executive Roundtable Meeting.